A new high-definition
television broadcasting satellite was deployed by a Proton rocket early
Tuesday, bolstering DirecTV's programming lineup for customers in the United States.

The DirecTV 12 satellite
was bolted atop the 191-foot-tall booster for liftoff at 0022 GMT Tuesday (7:22
p.m. EST Monday) from pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Proton's three core
stages heaved the
satellite and Breeze M propulsion module on a ballistic trajectory less
than 10 minutes after launch. The Breeze M's main engine ignited two minutes
later to put the spacecraft in a stable parking orbit, according to
International Launch Services, the U.S.-based launch provider.

Spacecraft separation
occurred on time at 0932 GMT (4:32 a.m. EST) Tuesday, and ILS declared the
company's seventh mission of 2009 a success.

DirecTV 12 was expected to
be deployed in an orbit with a high point of 22,236 miles, a low point of 3,181
miles and an inclination of 20.7 degrees.

The communications payload
weighed about 13,000 pounds at launch, filling nearly all of the Proton
rocket's lift capacity. ILS and Russian rocket-builder Khrunichev have
implemented several recent upgrades to the Proton to give the booster the power
to launch such large satellites, according to McKenna.

"DirecTV placed their
trust and confidence in ILS two years ago with a very significant launch with
the DirecTV 10 satellite. At that time, it was the largest satellite launched
by Proton, demonstrating the increased capabilities of the vehicle," said
Frank McKenna, ILS president. "Now, with DirecTV 12, DIRECTV once again
entrusted their business to us with the continuation of this successful
partnership. We are very proud to play a significant role in the expansion of
digital television services in the United States with DirecTV."

The satellite will fire its
on-board thruster several times in the next few days to reach a circular orbit
22,300 miles high and hugging the equator. DirecTV 12 will also unfurl its
massive solar array wings spanning 158 feet tip-to-tip.

From its station in geosynchronous
orbit at 102.8 degrees west longitude, DirecTV 12 will reach subscribers in the
continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. The satellite is designed to
operate for 15 years.

The satellite will complete
DirecTV's phased expansion of high-definition television service to U.S. households. DirecTV 12 was built by the satellite-manufacturing division of Boeing Co.
in El Segundo, Calif.

"DirecTV
12 is the third in a line of satellites designed for delivery of
high-definition television service to DirecTV's customers throughout the
continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii," said Steve Schmidt,
Boeing's DirecTV 12 program director.

DirecTV 12 will allow the
direct-to-home broadcasting firm to expand its HD capacity by 50 percent,
according to Boeing.

The satellite will join two
identical spacecraft launched in 2007 and 2008. The trio of satellites were
ordered to bolster DirecTV's HDTV offering and continue the company's legacy of
uninterrupted service.

"DirecTV 12 is
important to us because it's the last of our three original Ka-band
satellites," said Jim Butterworth, vice president of communications
systems at DirecTV. "It augments our local channel capability, so we can
go to more markets with HD programming. And it also is going to give us the
capability to have more movie choices and other services for our
customers."

After DirecTV 12 enters
service next year, the company will provide 200 national HD channels and 1,500
local HD channels to customers.

"DirecTV 12 is the
21st in the Boeing 702 line and will provide significant expansion to the
already unprecedented HDTV service that DirecTV provides to its
customers," Schmidt said.

The spacecraft carries 131
Ka-band transponders for nationwide service and local programming. The
communications payload uses two 9.2-foot reflectors and nine smaller antennas.

ILS announced a new
initiative this fall to launch two payloads on a single Proton rocket, making
the booster competitive for medium-class satellite missions beginning in 2012.

"We will launch two
intermediate satellites on the Proton system to (geosynchronous) transfer
orbit, and that will create a significant offering in that segment of the
market, in which we have not participated previously, at very affordable prices
and reliability," McKenna said.

The launch provider is
partnering with Khrunichev and Orbital Sciences Corp., a leading builder of
small communications satellites. The Proton Duo service aims to shave 20
percent from the cost of delivering each kilogram of payload to orbit, according
to ILS.

Monday night's launch was
the 10th mission overall for the Proton rocket this year.